The Saving of a Dying Flower
by PeggyandthePenguins
Summary: Maybe if she wasn't hurt in that accident so long ago with her brother, then she wouldn't have gone to that school. Maybe if she hadn't had gone to that school, then she wouldn't have met him. Maybe if she hadn't met him, then she wouldn't be hurting this much. But maybe, if she hadn't met him, he wouldn't have been saved. At least she likes flowers, even if they are dying.
1. Showered in Ivy

**Bold- English**

**This will take place in High School. I mean, half the guys look like college students, so it's not that big of a deal. So everyone who's 14 will be 17, 13 will be 16, and 12 will be 15, roughly. And this starts right at Ryoma's first match with his team.**

"Are you going to go now, sweetie?"

"Yes, **Mom**."

"Wish him luck for me, will you?"

A laugh. "Of course, **Mom**."

"Have fun!"

"I will!" The girl threw her purse onto her shoulder as she headed out the door, not bothering to lock it since her mother would be home. Her hands rummaged through her purse one last time to make sure that she had enough money for her fast drinking brother. Maybe he should drink some water instead. "I can't believe that little shit left without me."

* * *

"Achoo!" A young boy sneezed loudly, startling his nearby teammates.

"Shit, Echizen!" An elder boy recoiled from the noise, dramatically over reacting to startling sneeze. "You sick or something?"

"Momo! Quit teasing the baby!" A red head laughed at Echizen's glare towards his elder. He turned to smile at Echizen, only to find the said boy glaring at him now. "Eh!? Ochibi!?"

A light brown haired tensai merely smiled at his team members. "I don't think calling Echizen baby isn't going to make him stop glaring, Eiji."

The black-haired freshman kept glaring at his elders; he already started getting horrible flashbacks back in America. Echizen groaned when his teammates kept bickering to themselves over what his nickname was to be. He didn't think Fuji actually cared what his nickname was; that tensai just wanted to watch Echizen sit and writhe in pain over his childish nickname that Kikumaru would bestow upon him.

The freshman backed off from his now arguing team. Tezuka and Oishi should be with Coach Ryuzaki who was currently turning in the line up for today's event. Kaido was off readying himself for his upcoming matches while Kawamura and Inui were discussing some of Kawamura's playing tactics. Ryoma had no idea where the Freshman Trio and he didn't want to know where they were. Sometimes he could barely handle them.

Ryoma stopped by the park vending machine, silently pondering over the idea of partaking in a nice, cold Ponta. He licked his lips. This was his only vice, his only addiction other than tennis. The freshman watched a bead of condensation roll down the glass pane of the vending machine. His hand reached into his large pocket, fumbling around in empty fabric only for him to realize that he left his wallet resting on his bed. His shoulders dropped in disappointment.

**"Need some money, cutie?"**

Ryoma turned himself away from the delectable drinks and faced the voice. A black-haired girl stood before him, wearing jean shorts and a loose tank top. Black liner framed her gleeful eyes and a light pink was covering her smug lips. In her hands was her wallet, a cute Japanese cat change purse. His mood immediately worsened. "What are you doing here?"

Her mouth shaped themselves into a mocking shocked expression. "I'm here to watch you! Ugh, you're so rude! And how dare you leave me behind!"

"You're the one who didn't bother to wake up on time."

"You were supposed to wake me!" The girl spun on her heel, walking off to find a staff member or an assistant who was running the event. She knows that Ryoma wouldn't tell her where the courts he would be playing on were located. The boy made a grunt behind her and she gave an exasperated sigh. The girl turned her head. Ryoma was pointing at the vending machine, a small pout on his lips. She pointed a well-manicured finger at him. "You have to tell me where you're playing."

**"Fine, Akina-ne."**

She sent him a smug smile, handing over a few yen to the younger teen. "You know, I'm a bit surprised you told Mom and Dad not to come. I thought that you would want them to see you play."

"They'll see me play at the National Finals."

Akina let a laugh escape her, absolutely loving her brother's overwhelming confidence. After Ryoma had gathered his change and his drink, together they headed back to where his team was probably worrying about him. Her brother walked in silence, still upset he gave in to his elder sister, while she chatted on with her day at the airport.

**"Oh my god, it was so cold. I was absolutely freezing in there," **Akina waved her hand in an exaggerated manner. **"Oh! I forgot to congratulate you on your position as a regular!"**

"Thanks," Ryoma mumbled out, barely distinguishable, as he sipped on his Ponta. He just wanted his sister to shut her trap and not embarrass him in front of his team members. And speak of the devil. The entire pack was waiting for him by the benches, even the Freshman Trio. Shit. He thought he could introduce her slowly. Before he could open his mouth to warn her, the hyperactive red head opened his mouth.

"Ochibi!" Kikumaru waved his hands in the air, bringing all Seigaku attention towards himself and the Echizen pair. He squinted his eyes at the female teen walking with their baby regular. Kikumaru waved his friends over. Ryoma started to die inside. "Eh? Hey guys, who's that?"

"Holy shit!" Momoshiro eye's widened when he caught sight of the girl beside him. "He disappeared to pick up a girl? That little shit."

Ryoma groaned internally. Now his captain and his coach were watching him return with his sister.

"Echizen, who's that?" Fuji finally confronted the pair.

"Akina—"

The younger Echizen was shut up by his sister wrapping her arms around his smaller frame and gave him a squeeze. "He's my brother. I'm sure he's talked about me at some point. I want to thank you guys for taking care of him for me!"

"Sister?!" Momoshiro shouted out, alerting every Seigaku Tennis Club member in the approximate radius.

Fuji let out a small laugh, while the rest of his team freaked, aside from Tezuka and Ryuzaki. "I'm afraid he's never told us anything about you."

Akina paused, her eyes narrowing as she slowly turned to her brother. Ryoma pulled down his hat; his eyes never met hers. **"You ass."**

**"There was never a good time."**

She rolled her eyes. **"You just don't like talking about me. Cause I'm better."**

**"Are not."**

**"Yes, I am." **Akina turned back to his team. "So you guys are getting ready for a game?"

"Yes, Akina-chan." Kikumaru bumped himself into the conversation, excited for another Echizen.

Oishi's eyes widened at Kikumaru's open name calling. The Seigaku mother didn't know how Echizen's sister would react to the casualness of Kikumaru. "Eiji, you can't be so casual."

He was instead met with her laugh. She waved her hand. "It's fine. I prefer my first name anyways. I just want to know what position he's playing, then I'll get out of your guys' way."

"Yes, please leave," Ryoma mumbled. His side was met with an elbow of his sister's.

Kikumaru beamed. "No, it's fine. You can stay here!"

Ryoma glared at his senpai. He was being way too friendly. And he didn't want his sister around him when he was playing. Hell, he didn't even want her to be here today. The freshman was playing doubles today and who knows how long Akina would tease him if he lost this match.

"Ah," Oishi began. He gestured to Momoshiro who waved. "He's playing doubles with Momoshiro."

Akina's jaw dropped before pulling into a smile. She threw her head back and laughed while her brother wished to disappear from the world. The Seigaku team, freshmen and regulars alike, all began to feel an uneasiness rise in their stomachs when they heard her laugh. She stopped her laughing and gave them a smile.

"Seriously, what's he playing?"

"…Doubles," Oishi's face sunk. "Second Doubles."

Akina's laughing face immediately fell off when she took notice of the regulars' uneasy expressions. "Oh... You guys weren't joking."

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	2. Growing into One

**I'm not exactly sure when Ryoma actually came over to Japan, so considering the freshmen didn't really know each other, at least I don't think, I'm going to assume he came over at roughly the beginning of the Japanese school year which would be in April. And all the schools (only American ones) I've been enrolled in ended in either early June or late May.**

**Bold- English**

Akina leaned over the green wall separating the Seigaku regulars and herself. They all gave her curious looks, all wondering to themselves on why she had picked this time to show herself. While the male Echizen had started his schooling when everyone else did, the sister was a month late. Oishi was the only one who was brave enough to ask this question.

"Ah," Echizen's sister nodded. "Ryoma wanted to start his freshman year earlier, with all the other Japanese freshmen. So he technically didn't finish his previous school year in America. But we were able to pull him out early. I, however, wanted to finish my junior year in America."

"So then you decided to start your senior year in Japan roughly a month late?" Inui pushed up his glasses.

She nodded. "Yes. I actually just finished my junior year yesterday!"

"So you'll be at school Monday?!" Kikumaru jumped up from his spot on the bench. His red hair bounced. "This is great! We can show you around the school this weekend!"

Fuji gave him an odd look. "You'll only be able to do tomorrow. You're going to be at this event all day."

"No, I thought Sundays were closed," Ryoma threw over his shoulder. Although why did he care? She wasn't even going to Seishun Academy. Thank god for that. He didn't want his sister harassing him there. Kikumaru, however, was not very happy on that thought. His usually jovial face sunk into a visible whimper. Sadness leaked from his aura. Fuji simply shrugged at him.

"Uh…." She gave them all a sheepish smile. Kikumaru tilted his head; his wide eyes blinked back at her. "I actually won't be attending Seishun Academy."

Fuji opened his eyes at that. Perhaps it was a sibling rivalry getting in the way of the two enrolling at the same school? He knew what that was like first hand. "Why not?"

"No!" Eiji gave her a look of despair.

"Wait," Momo's eyebrows rose. "Then where are you going?"

The corners of Ryoma's mouth pulled into a small grimace. Avoiding the curious eyes of his teammates, he merely put his drink to his lips, pretending to sip his grape Ponta. Sly eyes caught Ryoma's small lip movements, the blue orbs flitted over to his captain who was also watching Ryoma's darkening expression. Fuji had never seen something like this on the freshman's face. His blue eyes were soon brought to the elder Echizen's face as her soft laughter rang in their ears.

"Ryoma didn't want me to keep harassing him all day!" She lightly poked him on his cheek, giving him a small— dare Fuji say sad? — smile.

Eiji's eyes watered. The red head tackled the younger Echizen and clung to him tightly. Ryoma's arms flailed about him as he was attacked. "Ochibi! Let your sister harass you so that she can come to Seigaku!"

"Kikumaru-senpai!"

"Gyokurin versus Seigaku!" An announcer shouted out, calling for the teams to gather out onto the courts.

"Ah! That's us!" Seigaku's coach waved over her team to where she and Inui were sitting. Something about that woman seemed really familiar to Akina. She tucks it into the back of her mind and decides to ask her father later.

Only seven of the nine Seigaku regulars filed out onto the tennis court, shaking hands with the other team. Akina tilted her head, remembering that she only knew two names of Ryoma's new team. The Momo guy who was playing doubles with Ryoma and the red head Eiji. She didn't know the egg head, the guy who somehow didn't trip with his eyes closed all the time, the sheepish one, nor the one with the bandana. And she forgot about the captain and the one with glasses.

"Hm…."

"Is there anything wrong, Echizen-chan?" The guy with glasses suddenly appeared beside her, writing something in his journal.

"Ah!" Akina placed a hand over her heart. The Freshmen Trio shot her a concerned look. **"Holy shit."**

"Echizen-chan? Are you alright?"

She waved her hand in front of her. "I'm fine. You just scared me."

"Ah," he nodded. "My apologies. I was asking if anything was wrong?"

_He doesn't look very sorry_, she thought to herself. "I'm afraid I don't know your name, nor your captain's."

He nodded, his glasses preventing her from seeing anything emotional in his covered eyes. "I'm Inui." – he gestured to the brown-haired captain— "He's Tezuka." – he gestured back to the courts— "The one with his eyes closed is Fuji. The light brown-haired one is Kawamura. The one with the bandana is Kaido. Your brother's double partner is Momoshiro. And the vice-captain is Oishi."

"Seigaku's Momoshiro and Echizen pair versus Gyokurin's Izumi and Fukawa pair!" The announcer interrupted the two's conversation. The second doubles players stayed on the court as the other team members walked off and towards their respective sides.

"Welp, the baby's up," Eiji rested his arms behind his head.

Fuji gave him a smile. "We'll see how he does today."

"Are they arguing?" Kaido shook his head at the pair.

The girl tilted her head, not quite thinking that was the case. Ryoma had a smirk on his face. "I think they're goading."

Ryoma said something again that caught Eiji's attention. He turned to his doubles partner with a small look of confusion on his face. "Oishi, have you heard of the Ah-Un strategy?"

"No." The vice-captain's brows furrowed. "Have you, Inui-kun?"

"No."

"What about you, Akina-chan?" An elderly lady's voice interjected into the conversation, a small smirk rested on her face. "You were a doubles player in America. Did you come across any similar named strategies? Or did you teach Ryoma-kun the strategy?"

"Coach Ryuzaki!" Oishi's eyes widened.

"Ryuzaki-san?" Akina narrowed her eyes at the elderly lady. That name sounded very familiar to her. "No. I have no idea what he's talking about."

The Seigaku coach's face deflated. "I was hoping you would be able to teach that boy something."

Akina shot her a sheepish smile. "I hope for the same thing."

"One set match, Gyokurin to serve!" The referee shouted out, raising his hand towards the Gyokurin side. Each of the four players lined themselves accordingly while the orange-haired boy— Akina thinks his name was Izumi— reached into his pocket for a tennis ball. He must be serving. Akina leaned on the fence separating herself and the Seigaku regulars, almost knocking over her brother's tennis bag. Her quick hands shot out and steadied the bag.

"That was a quick one, Echizen-chan," Fuji whispered to her.

She shot him a smile and a quick wink. "Echizen reflexes."

Bounce, bounce, _plonk!_

The Izumi boy served to her brother, him returning the server with ease to the orange-hair. With a swing of his arm, the Gyokurin boy sent it back to Seigaku's middle. Akina didn't miss the smirks on Gyokurins' faces. _Does Ryoma and Momoshiro have trouble with the middle?_

"Ah!" Momoshiro called out, his arm open and ready to hit.

"Un!" Her little brother responded to his call, stepping back to let his team mate handle the ball. Momoshiro whipped his arm, hitting the ball with a loud plonk. The ball landed down Gyokurin's middle, sliding past both Izumi and Fukawa.

"Love- 15!"

The freshmen trio next to her begun to cheer. "Yes! Echizen did it!"

_Hmm…. Maybe he did pick up on something we were trying to teach him, _Akina kept her thoughts to herself.

Another shot down Seigaku's middle had them stealing another point from Gyokurin. A few shots later, Gyokurin lobbed high over Momoshiro's head. He reached up, his long body stretching towards the sun, but he couldn't reach. Her brother bolted, his lean legs launching himself like a rocket out of orbit. Akina noticed how the Seigaku pair was lined up. With another whack, Ryoma successfully sent the neon yellow ball over to the other side. Gyokurin's net player poached the ball from his teammate and smashed the poor ball onto the opposite side of the court giving the two Seigaku players little time to race towards the tennis ball. They both reached it… but Ryoma and Momoshiro collided into each other, effectively losing the point.

"15-30!"

"They only have co-operation in the middle," the captain remarked. Eiji snickered into his hand. Akina merely shook her head.

Izumi threw another ball into the air and gave a weak serve to Ryoma. Her brother readied himself while taking note of how both the Gyokurin players moved to the net. They smashed down the ball into the side after Ryoma had returned it. The referee called out the score, giving Ryoma and Momoshiro time to reset themselves into their doubles position. His brown eyes were full of thoughts.

"Perhaps we shouldn't have put a hastily arranged pair onto the court," Oishi tapped his chin.

"Well," Akina pulled back. "I guess Ryoma will just have to deal with it for now."

"I'm sure Echizen has something prepared," a funkily dressed freshman nodded to himself.

Fuji turned to her with a question on his lips only for him to knock over the unprotected bag of her idiot brother. Her hands weren't quick enough; she leaned far over the fence, her arms reaching comically out as she grabbed at nothing. The bag slowly fell to the floor with a thud. Fuji whispered apologies to her and her brother— of which he would never hear— and squatted down to scoop up the Echizen's bag. Fuji leaned the tennis bag against the fence but stepped on something.

"Ah," Fuji looked down. "Something fell out."

The freshmen trio poked their heads over the fence, even his sister craned her neck to see what the book was.

_Doubles for Beginners._

Akina couldn't help but crack a smile. **"Well shit."**

"Akina…?" Eiji tilted his head to look up at her. "Has Ochibi never played doubles before?"

"Mostly with me, but…. Truthfully, I wouldn't call it doubles. Mostly just me backing him up." God knows Ryoga couldn't handle playing with him. A small pang entered her heart when thinking of her older brother. Ryoma still wasn't talking to him. "But he does have… _some _experience."

"Ah," Eiji continued. The Seigaku remembers watched Ryoma and Momoshiro glare at the other team. "That would explain it."

"2-1, Gyokurin!"

"I mean," Akina picked at her nails. "I think it'll be fine. He's really good at adapt—" She looked up to find Ryoma walking towards the net. He was supposed to be at the base line. "What's he doing?"

Fuji shrugged. "I was about to ask you the same thing."

She stared at Ryoma in complete awe. The men of her family were typically better at singles— in Ryoma's case, only good at singles— than they were in doubles. Their hot heads couldn't work with other people very well. Even when playing with Ryoga, Akina had to take a step back sometimes. However, this completely takes the cake. That dumbass just split the court. That's not doubles.

"He did not just do what I think he did."

"He did, Echizen-chan."

She face palmed. It was _partially _her fault. Ryoga and Akina never really got into the habit of playing with Ryoma in doubles. Ryoga was only a year older than her so it was really just her and him who played doubles together. By the time Ryoma could successfully return a decent serve, Akina and Ryoga had already begun entering mixed-doubles competitions. They kind of just left the poor baby behind. It wasn't _really _their fault. Ryoma should have been born earlier!

Akina groaned to herself. "Oh, Ryoma."

"Don't worry, Echizen-chan," Oishi tried cheering her up. He gestured to the courts. "Look, they're using their original playing styles. And it looks like they're competing better now."

Brown eyes filled with glee as they spotted their brother playing a smile on his face. Even as the Gyokurin pair threw everything they could at the Seigaku boys, Ryoma and Momoshiro kept pushing back their opponents. Quickly, their score rose. It wasn't long until Ryoma and Momoshiro had taken their last point with relative ease.

"Seigaku! 6-2!"

**"I can't believe he won that,"** Akina whispered to herself as she watched her idiot of a brother sauntered over to her. A thin smirk was resting on his face as he stared back at her dumbfounded expression.

**"Hey Akina,"** Ryoma started. **"It turns out that doubles is pretty easy—"**

His coach reached over and grabbed Ryoma by the cheeks. She pulled and kept admonishing the two double boys for their shitty play. Akina couldn't help but laugh at her brother. He was the one who did this to himself after all. His hands reached for his tennis bag. Ryoma slipped his now unneeded racket in the bag. He paused. Something caught his eye.

"Hey." Heads turned to the youngest member of the team. "Why is there a footprint on my book?"

Fuji opened his eyes. "Ah, Echizen. I'm—"

**"Well, maybe that wouldn't have happened if you'd just zip up your bag." **His sister rolled her eyes at him. She turned her head to the first doubles match.

**"Akina."**

**"Ryoma." **She stuck her tongue out.

**"You're an a—"**

_Ring. Vzzt. Ring. Vzzt. Ring. Vzzt._

Feminine hands flew to her purse. She quickly found her phone and hit the green button. "Hello."

"Ah," her father's voice rung into her ear. "You with Ryoma?"

**"Yeah. Whatcha want?"**

She could her hear father fling something like paper down onto a hard surface. He groaned. "Ah…. Well, your school wants you to come in this evening to tour Rikkaidai."

**"Hmph." **Akina looked at her nails. She just wanted to stay with Ryoma. They have been separated for an entire month! Who knows what trouble the baby Echizen could get into if she wasn't around? And he was playing tennis! She wants to see that! **"I don't wanna."**

"Well too bad. You don't get to decide that. Get your ass over here and we'll head down to Rikkaidai."

Sigh. She rolled her eyes. That school was going to be the death of her. So much shit they wanted her to do. **"Fine. I'll tell Ryoma. I'm on my way."**

Her brother tilted his head towards her. "Akina?"

Her phone landed back in her purse after she had hung up on her father. She gave him a smile. Black hair fell over Ryoma's shoulder as she leaned over to whisper in his ear. "I've got to go. Good luck, don't get hurt."

"Tch."

"Text me before your last match," Akina stood up, giving her brother a pat on the head. "I might be able to make it to that one."

"Alright."

Akina gave him another one of her smiles. Waving goodbyes to the rest of the regulars and even the freshmen trio, the elder Echizen exited the park. Her heart sunk as she left behind her still angry brother. She didn't really want to be separated from her brother, but Rikkaidai was closer to the hospital….

_Sweet Peas symbolize goodbyes._

**So I know that I said that this will take place in high school. And I'm standing by that. All the events of PoT will take place during high school. But I have no idea how I'll deal with the U-17 events. Right now, I don't plan on taking it that far, but if I do…. I don't know! **

**Read and review!**


	3. A School of Yellow Daisies

**I must say I'm very happy and overall pleasantly surprised by how much attention this story is getting. I wasn't expecting this much attention for a character who is a side character and who belongs in a series that isn't that big anymore— at least I don't think it is. Whelp, anyways! Thank you to those who followed and favorited! Special thanks to mapl3nin2cool, who pretty much gave me enough confidence to post the second chapter.**

**Bold- English**

"Uuuuuu…."

"Akina." Her dad gave her a fed up look. His fingers clutched at the driver's wheel. The Echizen father could not believe his daughter's childishness. She just had to wait ten minutes for one of the student council members to meet her out in the parking lot and then they'll make their way to the principal's office.

"UUUuuuUUUuuUu…!"

Nanjiro mockingly gave her a concerned look. Her exaggerated moans of reluctance were starting to become annoying. He playfully smacked her with his sweaty sash that had been holding together his uniform. Akina screamed as it landed in her and she quickly swatted the offending fabric onto the car floor. The girl flailed. In her panicked attempt to remove the sash from her lap, her half hazard swatting had only delayed the already slow descent of the sash to the floor. Her fingers twisted into the dark fabric, prolonging her torture.

Another shriek ripped itself out her throat. Her shriek pushed Nanjiro's bubbling laughter over and he started to openly mock her for her over the top dramatics. He just couldn't help himself. The poor girl was freaking out about a damp piece of fabric. Granted, it was damp from his sweat but still. The said poor girl fought against the door handle, successfully opening her torturous confinement but unsuccessfully freeing herself from the said confinement.

When Akina dropped the sash, her flailing had caused the fabric to land near her feet. In her panic, she hadn't realized that she had stepped on one end while the other was kicked into a tucked groove, allowing someone— in this case, Akina— to be able to hook their other foot on the sash and not-so-gracefully fall face flat into the hot concrete below.

"Ah, are you alright?"

Akina died.

That voice did not belong to her father.

She wanted to stay down on the floor. Her first few minutes at this brand spankin' new— to her at least— and she just showed off her graceful skills to one of her new classmates. She mentally crossed her fingers. Hopefully she won't ever see him again. Akina peered up with her brown orbs. The guy in front of her was wearing the male equivalent of the uniform that she was supposed to wear. A green suit and a striped tie.

_Ugh. I have to wear a tie._

The student raised his eyebrow at her. She gave an awkward wave as she raised herself from the hot concrete. He merely kept his eyebrow raised. Akina couldn't read him. He had his fucking eyes closed! The guy gave her a small bow of which she returned with a sheepish smile on her lips.

_What's with brown-haired guys and having their eyes closed?_

"Are you the new student here to tour the grounds?" He wanted to get this over with. That much Akina could tell.

"Uh yes. I'm Akina Echizen—" _You're in Japan! _"— I mean, Echizen Akina."

"And I'm guessing your father is with you?" The Rikkaidai student peered over her shoulder to find her father snickering at his daughter's antics, his sash firmly over his monk uniform. She nodded vigorously; the student couldn't help but think she looked like a rabbit with her wide eyes. "Very good. I'm Yanagi Renji. I'll be giving you a tour of the grounds today."

She shot him a glistening smile. Of which he ignored. Akina's lips pulled into a thin line. She's already liking Seigaku better. Her black hair whipped around her as she turned to call her father. Together, all three of them walked to the principal's office with minimal words, the occasional vocalization coming from Yanagi describing the surrounding grounds. She rolled her eyes behind him. Despite her previous action leading one to believe otherwise, she could fuckin' see. Akina didn't need this guy describing every rock to her as if he was afraid she would fall and hurt herself.

"Ah," the Yanagi guy stopped Akina and Nanjiro. "Here we are."

Yanagi gave a gentle, alerting knock before pushing open the door, allowing Akina to shamelessly gawk at the ridiculously luxurious office the principal had going from himself. The office was spacious, decked out with the neatest looking wood Akina had even seen. Why did she think wood looked neat? She didn't know. She just knew that the principal, Yoshizawa Tsutomu, was, no doubt, not in any need of a really nice— mahogany?— desk and a comfy looking swivel chair.

"Echizen Nanjiro and Akina, I presume?" The round and balding principal held out his hand.

The two Echizens shook his hand one after the other, each giving the man their signature smile. Yoshizawa was a very cheerful man— something that Akina had definitely not been expecting with what her mother was telling her of the school. She was expecting some Bruce Wayne type of guy. After all, Rikkaidai was _only_ the best. With their _grandiose_— her mother's words— motto, "losing is unacceptable," it was quite easy to picture a super buff, stern guy who only wanted the best at Rikkaidai. What an eye roller.

"Akina?" All three males stared at her.

The girl blinked. Shit. _What did he ask? _"Ah?"

"I'm sure you read the student handbook?" Tsutomu raised a brow.

"Yes, of course!" _No._

"Good, as expected of a Rikkaidai student." The principal smiled gleefully. "And do you have any questions over the expectations we have over Rikkaidai students?"

Akina smiled. "No, sir."

"Great," the principal clapped his hands together with a loud noise. He turned his head over to Yanagi. "Now, why don't you take Echizen-chan over here and show her around the school. Make sure to tell her about our clubs and committees. Echizen-san and I will discuss the, uh, other arrangements that need to be arranged."

Akina nodded, knowing exactly what her father and the principal needed to discuss. Giving her father a gentle squeeze on his shoulder, she followed the Yanagi boy out into the overly decorated hallway. Like all high schools, they showcase their accomplishments with won trophies in neat little cases. But Rikkaidai was ridiculous. Just to do a massive flex on the other schools, this school decided to sort their trophies by _year _instead of by sport. That meant that they were so confident with their school winning a trophy in each sport that they decided it would just be easier to sort the trophies by year. The flex… was impressive. Naturally, her eyes tried to search for the tennis trophies.

"Do you play a sport, Echizen-chan?"

Akina tore her eyes away, a thin line resting on her lips. "No."

"Then perhaps the other clubs would interest you?"

"Probably."

"As you will remember, each student will need to enroll in a club or a committee. Here's a list of all the committees and clubs." No, she did not remember. She wasn't paying attention, but he didn't need to know that. Akina reluctantly took the papers he handed to her and stared at the thick packet in her hands. Brown eyes widened. "With almost three thousand students, it's natural that we have an excessive number of clubs and committees."

She slowly nodded, silently regretting her choice to going to this school. But her mom did beg and then the hospital…. Ugh…. Akina placed the packet in her purse. This was getting annoying. Black hair shifted as she cracked her neck, much to the displeasure of Yanagi. He looked down at his papers, desperately wanting to finish this tour and get back to his team mates. They could handle themselves, he knew that, but with their former club manager now in college, the Demon Trio were surprisingly inadept to handle growth of the already large tennis club. Yanagi didn't want to add any more stress to the rest of the team— especially not Yukimura.

"It seems your homeroom will be here," he gestured to the locked doors of a random classroom. "Homeroom C3."

Satisfied with her indifferent response, Yanagi continued to drabble on about the history and something or other… blah blah blah…. Akina grimaced. She could be watching her baby brother! But no! They just had to have her tour a damn school that she was forced to transfer to. Maybe she should have asked to stay with—.

_Buzz. Buzz._

Hands flew to her purse, rummaging through to find her phone. Akina's eyes widened with hope. Making sure that Yanagi was in front of her and not paying attention to her, her eyes quickly flitted down to her phone, finding two messages from Ryoma. Her fingers typed in a familiar pattern of numbers that unlocked her phone. The number two hanging onto the message bubbled begged to be pressed, silently but intensely calling the elder Echizen to desperately open the app. Her thumb hovered over the app—.

"Do you have any questions so far?"

Akina snapped her head up, a fake smile on her lips. Yanagi was just beginning to turn his head towards her. "No! So far, so good!"

The student council member grimaced at her loud shout, cringing even more with her voice echoing off the tiled floor. He was not expecting her to shout so loud, especially with how quite she's been. He merely continued with the tour making a mental note to write his findings down later. Akina sighed, relaxing her shoulders. With a swift tap of her thumb, her brother's messages popped up on her screen.

**Dweeb: dont go to the park. Were actually finished. ill send you an address for dad to drop you off at**

The next one from Ryoma was a string of numbers and names. Akina frowned. There was another but from her father.

**Dad: **Get your ass up here. We're finished.

"Echizen-chan?" Yanagi called out to her, no doubt seeing the phone in her hand.

"Ah, they want us to come back up to the office. They're finished." Akina place her phone back in her purse. They returned to the office— silently to both of their pleasure— and found the two adults bowing to each other.

The principal gave her a smile. "Well, that about settles it! I'm sure you'll enjoy your time at Rikkaidai!"

"I'm sure I will," Akina returned his smile.

The Echizen pair left leaving the principal and the student council member to themselves, one more agitated to leave than the other. Yanai Renji watched the female Echizen babble something to her father about addresses and babies, betting to himself that she was a student so not fit for their school.

"Ah," his principal moaned mostly to himself. "Too bad we can't have her join the girl's tennis team."

That caught his attention. "Sir?"

"Ah," he misunderstood Yanagi's question. "Thank you for doing this. I know you have District matches today. I do appreciate it."

"It was no problem." It was. He didn't want to stress his team.

The principal smiled. "Whelp, I guess we can go now."

"Yes, sir." Yanagi simply walked off the Rikkaidai grounds, heading off towards the park that would contain the matches for this week. He looked down at his watch. They would still be playing. Despite being told to stay off his phone during matches, Kirihara had texted him that the matches were delayed for some reason that the officials didn't say. There was no doubt that they _had _been told why the officials decided to delay the matches and that Kirihara had simply not paid attention. Regardless, he left his items with Seiichi and he would need to meet up with his team to get his possessions back. He opened his phone, his fingers typing in a memorized number.

_Ring ring. Ring ring. Ring ri—._

"Hello?"

"Seiichi, it's Yanagi."

"Ah, did you finish with the tour yet?"

"I just did. I'm walking to the park now." Yanagi could hear muffled voices in the background.

"Good, we'll see you soon."

And with that, Yukimura had hung up on him. Their exchanges had always been like that. Quick, precise, and to the point with no hesitation on either side. Yukimura was a man who always went into a conversation knowing what he wanted from the exchange. Whether to merely pass the time or retrieve information, Yukimura was certain. That's why Yanagi admired him so much. Yukimura didn't spend his time pondering over his own feelings and trying to decipher what he so desperately wanted; he already knew.

_Ivy can grow strong just like friendship._

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	4. She Needs Geranium

**I really should be working on my school work. But at least I'm back to writing!**

"Have fun, Akina!" Her father waved out of the car door, giving his daughter a smile before driving off back home. She waved back at him, watching his car shrink as it got further and further away from her. He wouldn't pick them back up. When Akina had realized how close the sushi parlor was to the Echizen home, she didn't think it was necessary.

The female Echizen spun around, holding her hands out to make sure she didn't fall flat on the floor again, and faced the building that she was supposed to enter. The restaurant had a cute bamboo garden in the small area between the side walk and the store front. How the owner managed that, she'll never know. A blue sign above the door announced the name and most likely owners of the store: "Kawamura's Sushi!" Akina froze when she spotted the closed sign on the front door.

"Ah, isn't that someone's name on Ryoma's tennis team?" Akina walked up to the door, giving a small knock. Might as well knock.

"I'm sorry!" A familiar, muffled voice spoke from the other side of the door. Although she recognized it, she couldn't place whose voice it was. The door cracked open, revealing a familiar face of Ryoma's tennis teammate. "We're closed for today— oh! Akina! Ryoma said that you might come by!"

Akina nodded. "Yeah. He said it would be okay for me to come?"

"Of course!" The shy brown-haired teenager rubbed the back of his head. "Everyone would love to see you again!"

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude or anything…."

"No!" Kawamura waved his hands out in front of him franticly. His eyes grew wide then quickly snapped to an embarrassed expression. He rubbed the back of his head again. "I mean— we don't want to leave you out. And you're here anyways."

"As long as it's fine, I'll be happy to join—"

"Taka-san!" The sound of Momoshiro's voice flew into Akina's ears, a stark contrast of Kawamura's soft tone. "What's taking so long?"

The not-so-quiet giggle of Eiji's rang through the air as he teased Kawamura about talking to some girl. His signature red hair poked up from around the corner as Akina stepped into restaurant. While Kawamura began sputtering defenses, Eiji's comments went ignored as he shouted at Akina. "Ah! Akina!"

"Eiji!" Akina shouted back, slightly bewildered at his actions.

A smile beamed on his face. "You did come!"

"Yup! Ryoma said something about a party, how could I not?"

"Come, sit next to us!" Eiji patted the empty space next to him, a spot at a table where Fuji and Kaido sat on the other side. He scooted over to the wall, letting her sit in the spot on the end.

Leaving her shoes at the door, Akina make her way over to the three teenagers. Her purse was ditched by the coat rack, snuggling down next to the other purses most likely left by the female sports reporter and the freshman girls. It was odd that the sports reporters joined in on the Seigaku party, but Akina was not in the position to say anything. As she gave a pat to her brother, a white eye patch caught her eye. She let out a gasp. "Ryoma!"

He turned to her, giving her a good look at his face. "What?"

The sister pointed to his no doubt hurt eye. "What is that? I literally told you not to hurt yourself."

"It was just an accident." He waved her off, letting her huff at him as she went back to sit by Eiji.

"I swear, that boy is going to be the death of me," Akina rolled her eyes as Fuji let out a small chuckle at her expense.

Fuji only smiled with his eyes closed at her. "He seems to do that with everyone."

"Honestly though." Akina picked up her chopsticks, separating them with a quick pull. Her chopsticks hovered around the sushi dish— carefully avoiding the wasabi selection near Fuji— before picking up a colorful roll.

"So where did you go? Ochibi wouldn't tell us," Eiji asked before popping a roll into his mouth.

Akina nodded, chewing patiently on her roll. After swallowing, she gave an exhausted sigh, remembering the awful tour with that Yanagi who was so obviously high strung. And she wasn't even going to mention the reason why her hands were smudged with the dust from the black asphalt. "I had to tour the school I'll be going to."

"Oh, that's right. You're not going to Seigaku." Fuji nodded.

"So where will you be going?" A deep voice spoke up, a voice that belonged to the angry looking Kaido. Akina was surprised that he spoke up.

"Rikkaidai." She plopped a sushi roll into her mouth.

All hell broke loose. Fuji's eyes opened, completely out of shock, revealing his beautiful blue eyes while Kaido had to control himself as to not spit his drink all over Akina's shirt. Eiji— the dramatic character that he was— fell back, a hand over his heart. If Eiji hadn't massively freaked out— him flailing his arms as he shouted about Rikkaidai and them stealing Akina— then the entire tennis team would not be staring back and forth between the two Echizens as if they had betrayed them. Even Tezuka was shocked. Well, she thinks he was shocked. He really only raised an eyebrow at Eiji's exclamations.

Akina gapped at the Seigaku team like a fish. "What? What's wrong?"

Eiji grabbed her shoulders, shaking her hard as he babbled nonsense on why Rikkaidai was the worst decision she could have chosen. Fuji merely opted to talk Eiji out of shaking Akina while Kaido and Momoshiro actually tried pulling Eiji off of Akina. This all played out to the amusement of her brother. After Eiji was quarantined and everyone else went back to eating— and pestering either Ryoma or Akina— Akina was able to finally take a breath.

"So what exactly is wrong with me going to Rikkaidai?"

"Everything!" Eiji called out.

"Rikkaidai is the number one tennis team in the nation— for boys at least. So you going there while Ryoma is going to Seigaku will kind of be like a betrayal to him," Fuji explained for her while Eiji cried out again. "But you're a girl so I don't know why Eiji is throwing such a fit."

Eiji slammed a fist down on the table, rattling the dishes. "Cause she should be joining the girls' team at Seigaku. We're one of the top three in girls'. Rikkaidai's girls' team isn't even in the top ten! The girls' team could finally beat Hyotei's girls' team. Then both Seigaku teams will be on top this year! Fuji! How do you not get this?!"

The boy who was currently getting screamed at by the red-head merely put up his hands in defense, knowing fully well how invested Eiji got into the sports ranking of Seigaku's teams, especially when one of his good friends was a team member on the female tennis team. Kaido eyed the Echizen sister, noticing the way her face twisted in pain when Eiji mentioned joining the females' tennis team.

"You don't plan on joining their tennis team, do you?"

Eiji stopped his shouting and Fuji stopped his defenses as they both turned to Kaido. Eiji rolled his eyes, giving him a look as if Kaido was stupid. "Of course she is. She's Chibi's sist—"

"No actually," Akina waved a hand in her face. "I'm not that good. At least not compared to Ryoma. And besides, I can't deal with him 24/7. I need a break! How do you guys put up with him?"

After successfully diverting the conversation to Ryoma, Akina could finally relax throughout the party, mentally prepping herself for the weeks to come at Rikkaidai. Seigaku member after Seigaku member still mentioned small tidbits about the probably one-sided rivalry between Rikkaidai and Seigaku, giving her small guilt over choosing the elite school over the underdog. Oh well. Shaking a snoring Echizen awake, Akina realized it was it time to leave lest she wanted to carry Ryoma back home.

Their walk back home was peaceful. Passing by closed shops and dark homes, the two siblings walked in silence, content with just being together after a month of separation. After an odd month of walking back home by herself, Akina was truly grateful to have her brother back by her side, even if it was only just one. With a turn of her key, Akina pushed open her house's door and welcomed the family's fluffy cat into her arms.

"Ah! Karupin! I missed you!" She snuggled the poor animal into her chest and walked up to her room, much to the displeasure of her brother.

"Hey!"

"Hey what?" Akina threw over her shoulder. "You had him for a whole month! It's my turn!" Akina ignored him as she climbed the stairs with Karupin snuggled up in her arms. She gave him a small peck on the head. "Finally, back home with my favorite kitty cat."

* * *

"Hi! I'm Echizen Akina." Akina waved at the class that were half interested and half unimpressed. Everyone expected a stereotypical American from an American transfer student, not a fully Japanese student who was raised in America. Most were mildly interested in the new American transfer student; however, the rest were mostly dreading the extra student they had to beat in testing scores. "It's nice to meet you guys!"

"Everyone welcome Echizen-san to our class," the teacher gestured weakly to the new student, nodding in an equally weak manner when the class responded with murmured welcomes. Ah well, at least no one threw eggs at her. "Echizen, you can sit in front of Marui-san."

A boy with bright red hair raised his hand high in the air, a bubble of gum growing on his lips. Akina shot him another smile. She scanned the room, happy to find that that Yanagi guy or whatever was not in this homeroom. The first time meeting him was too much. There was a cute brunette who gave her a small, cheery wave as Akina passed by the girl's desk. The red head gestured to the desk in front of him with a welcoming grin. Akina didn't miss the smirk on one of the guy's face further down the rows. His Jedi padawan ponytail flipped behind him as he turned his head towards her.

Akina let out a small hi towards the people around her as she sat herself down in her new seat. Setting aside her bookbag— an actual one; she didn't bother to get a side bag like what everyone else in Japan had—, she pulled out a few notebooks, getting ready to transfer her notebooks into the desk. Her hand touched the lid and— unbeknownst to her, a red head and a silver head exchanged looks behind her— she lifted up the top of the desk.

_What the fuck?_

The sight before Akina had the poor girl flipping her shit. On the outside, no one would ever know what that girl had experienced, but on the inside, all hell went loose. Cockroaches roamed around in the empty desk, just waiting to scare the ever-living shit out of the new transfer. They squirmed and crawled their way around the desk, moving their disgusting antenna thingies and just being disgusting in general.

Face stone cold, Akina quickly slammed down her desk lid. Whelp. That was interesting.

* * *

Marui looked down at his phone, hiding it behind his pile of books and overall cluttered desk. It's not like it was hard to get away with his phone out. Even the teacher was about to fall asleep.

**Niou: wtf was that**

**You: idk did you get the right desk**

**Niou: of course i did**

"Marui-san, can you tell me the answer to problem five?" The teacher breathed out. Marui could barely hear him.

He looked down at his homework sheet, finding that he did not do most of it correctly, if at all. In fact, his problem five was blank. _Fuck. _Marui scrambled to do the math in his head, finding that he needs some more practice to actually correctly do the math. But then again, if he was paying attention, he wouldn't need the extra practice.

"Uh…"

"Twenty six times t." A silver haired friend tried whispering to him from two rows down. Marui didn't know if he should trust him, no matter how good Niou was at math.

"Niou-san, I'd prefer it if you'd let Marui answer the question on his own after he finishes up his homework that he didn't do last night." The room snickered at the teacher's jab as Marui rolled his eyes at the teacher. Luckily the teacher let him go without painfully struggling through the right answer and that was the end of math class. And the end of hell for Marui. After Japanese Literature had passed, talk between classmates and friends broke out, signaling break time. The best time for him and Niou.

Marui mulled over something in his head. Then, after almost a full minute, he quickly gathered the courage he didn't need and took a pencil in his hands. Using the eraser end, Marui leaned over his cluttered mess and gave a gentle poke to the back of the girl sitting in front of him. The poke startled her, and she flipped her head to face her assailant. Black hair attacked the boy's face as she turned towards him with round brown eyes. Marui couldn't help but think about how pretty they looked when they were full of surprise.

"Hey, I'm Marui Bunta. Welcome to class B3."

_Jonquils are for desire._

**Go ahead and review!**


	5. Of Purple Crocuses

"Well, how did your first day go?" Akina's mother peered at her only daughter through the kitchen's doorway, worry evident from the wrinkles on her forehead.

Akina tossed her bookbag into a nearby corner and kicked off her shoes as she plopped down on the sofa, readying herself to watch some television. Her mind flashed to the cute brunette that waved to her this morning. "Oh it was fine. I met a girl named Yoko. She's going to take me out and show me around the neighborhood near Rikkaidai this weekend."

Her mother visibly relaxed. "Oh that's good. You know I worry sometimes."

"All the time," Akina rolled her eyes at her adorable mother.

"Anyways, have you thought about joining the volleyball team?" Her mother snidely mentioned her own best sport. Akina's mother was an absolute beast when a volleyball was in her hands. She might not have been great at tennis, but she had something sporty going about her.

Akina sat up. "Actually, I might try out. But I was going to see if the tennis team wanted a manager."

"Oh…. Are you sure you just don't want to just stare at cuties all day?"

"Mom! I was going to ask the girl's team!" Akina lazily tossed a pillow in her mother's direction. The poor pillow landed half way across the room, almost hitting the poor Echizen cat. As she whispered apologies to Karupin, her mind wandered to the words Kikumaru had told her. How could Rikkaidai's female team be so terrible?

"Oh, I'm just teasing you, Akina," her mother popped her head back in, watching as the family cat made itself home on the fallen pillow. "Seriously though, maybe you should try out for volleyball."

"I might, but I'll definitely ask the girl's team first."

Her mother gave her a playful pout. "Well, okay then. No one in this household ever wants to follow their mother's footsteps. Always going after tennis like Nanjiro…."

Akina rolled her eyes at her mother's antics and wiggled herself into a spot on the couch. She glanced at the clock. Bright red lights flashed four o'clock at her. Akina sighed, already knowing that Ryoma wouldn't get home until another hour and a half. Ugh. It was so much easier back when they could just walk home with each other. What was once a simple five minute walk from their house to their school in America was now a forty minute train ride. Akina rolled over, her eyes landing on the family cat that wiggled around on her thrown pillow.

* * *

_Beep beep._

_Beep beep._

**"Fucking hell, Ryoma,"** Akina yelled from her room, hoping that he could hear her but also hoping that their mother couldn't. She reached for a random pillow, tossing a fat cat plush into her brother's room. Unfortunately, her aim was off and the poor cat pillow ended up thwacking itself on her door frame and plopping to the ground in an ungraceful manner. **"Turn off your goddamn alarm!"**

**"Shut up!"**

"Ryoma! Akina! Breakfast is ready!" Nanako's sweet voice rose up to greet their ears. As Akina clasped her hands together and prayed to the food gods, her brother bolted from his bed in a mad rush to beat Akina to the Japanese omelets. "And I made you guys lunch!"

The elder Echizen scrambled out of the sheets when a flash of her brother's pajamas violated her eyes. Picking up another unfortunate pillow, she threw a plushie corgi at her brother's leaving form. The corgi pillow thunked against the ancient walls and squished onto the floor. Legs flailing, the elder sister launched herself from spot on the floor and bolted after Ryoma. **"Trip, you little shit!"**

**"How about you get your fat ass up earlier?!"** Her brother threw over his shoulder as he ran down the Echizen stairs.

**"Call me fat again and I'll make _you _go on a diet!"** Akina knew how terrible of a cook her brother was. He's going to end up killing himself on accident by eating his terrible food. He is thoroughly screwed if he doesn't get a girlfriend who can cook or if he doesn't live at home during college.

"Ryoma! You almost ran over Karupin!" Nanako's voice filled the house.

Akina found the poor kitten by the edge of the stairs and swaddled the cat in her arms. "Yeah, Ryoma! You ass!"

"Akina," her cousin rolled her eyes at Akina's teasing.

She laughed, setting the cat down to let Karupin wander around the kitchen like a normal cat. The black-haired girl slid into her proper seat and started poking at the food on her plate. It was an American style breakfast— something that would no doubt make her brother quite sad. Oh no! While she didn't mind American food, she knew that Ryoma definitely did. Akina had to hold off a laugh as Nanako told off her brother for complaining about breakfast.

Something pawed at her leg, leaving light scratches on her skin. The girl looked down at her legs, watching a sad kitten pathetically paw at her bare legs in a desperate attempt for one of his humans to play with before they leave for school. Karupin meowed at her when they caught eyes.

"Aw…," Akina cooed. "I can't play with you. I have to go to school."

Shoving the rest of her breakfast in her mouth, Akina bolted back up the stairs to slip into her uniform. With a few waves of her hand, she was out the door with her lunch box in hand and ready to get the week over with.

* * *

**"Oh shit,"** Akina whispered under her breath.

"Echizen-chan?" Yoko leaned closer to her, staring at the perfect Japanese lunch staring back up at the two girls. A few heads in their group turned towards the two black-haired girls. "What's wrong?"

A bubble of gum popped. Marui. "Yeah, your lunch looks great."

"It's my brother's," Akina sighed. She should have known to check the bag before yoinking it off the table. Oh well. Ryoma will have to deal with it.

"Aw, you have a brother?" Yoko tilted her head.

The Echizen smiled. "Yup. And the baby's helpless. And terrible to deal with. Like all baby brothers really ."

"Oh my god, yeah," Marui popped another bubble as he nodded to Akina's words. The rest of his lunch was pushed off to the side— all thoughts of cleaning up left as an afterthought. It seems as though he wanted to pay more attention to the girls' mindless chitter chatter than do his currently unfinished homework that was probably due earlier today. But could Akina really give him shit? No. She couldn't. She didn't do her homework either. "My little brothers are a pain in my ass."

Yoko— the only child— threw back her head and gave a cute laugh. "There's no way! I would love to have a baby brother!"

"Isn't Yanagi the youngest of his family?" A guy named Niou joined in on their conversation. Akina scrunched up her nose, desperately trying to remember why that name was so familiar.

"Oh yeah—" Before Akina could remember and before Marui could finish, a snarky looking boy wrapped his arms around the two males in the conversation and leaned forward— so forward that he was starting to annoy Akina with how much he had leaned over her food. Even Yoko pretended to whack his tie out of the way; the girls stifled their laughter.

"Are we talkin' shit about Yanagi-senpai?" The boy's lips broke out into a devilish smirk.

"Yo! Akaya! Quick question for ya," Niou patted the boy on the back. The boy named Akaya merely gave him an odd look. "Are you the youngest sibling?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Ahahahaha, it makes so much sense!" Marui exclaimed, patting the confused Akaya on the back. Niou joined in on the laughter, clearly enjoying an inside joke.

Akina merely smiled at the boys, already seeing their comradery before even needing to have someone tell her about whatever they had. They were probably in the same club or something like that. "Hey, Yoko-san?"

Yoko leaned closer to her. "Mhm?"

"Do you know where the tennis club meetings for the girl's team are? I'm thinking about joining them, and I couldn't find them after school yesterday."

The brunette cringed. "No, I'm sorry. I know when the guys meet up, but that won't really help you. I know that the tennis courts on campus are only for the guys team this week."

Silver hair poked itself into the girls' view. "You thinking of playing for Rikkaidai?"

"Well, I was thinking of more of managing, at least for the tennis team."

Marui nodded. "If you're willing, you can meet me by the tennis courts, and I can show you the weight room. We switch between the weight room and the tennis courts weekly, so that's probably why you didn't see them on the courts."

"You'll have to tell Buchou-san what you're doing," the younger black-haired boy said. Marui only shrugged at the younger boy's words.

"Oh, really? That'd be great!" Akina smiled. "So, I'm guessing you're in the tennis club then?"

"Yeah," Niou nodded again. "Me and Marui."

"And me!"

"Oh yeah, and Akaya." Niou's and Mauri's lips broke out into mischievous smiles. There was no doubt that Akaya was often at the butt of their teasing. Akina, remembering all the times her brother and she teased Ryoma, smiled. She wished that her siblings could go back to that.

* * *

Niou pulled back his arms, his eyes furrowing with the stretch that the movement brought to his arms; it had always felt good to stretch. The screams, on the other hand, were not something he looked forward to. It was truly annoying. He took a peek from the corner of his eye and internally cringed at the line of girls just standing out of the fence. While the newbies— mostly freshmen— were picking up last round's tennis balls, the non-regulars were making laps around the tennis courts. Niou looked over to the Three Demons struggling with the too big club and realized how much they needed a manager.

"You know," Niou tilted his head, not really speaking to anyone in particular, "maybe the transfer could be our manager."

"The girl from earlier?" Akaya squeaked out as Jackal pushed him to stretch further. "I thought she was going to try out for the girl's team? Wasn't that the point of Marui-senpai taking her to find their captain?"

"I heard that she couldn't join the team," a deep voice spoke from behind Niou, startling the boy into dropping his racket. "It's such a shame. My sourcees had high remarks for her doubles playing. She could have really helped the girl's team."

"And why does that make her unable to play for us?" Yagyuu joined in on the conversation, curious to who the new transfer was.

Yanagi shrugged. "I'm not sure. I tried asking our principal, but I don't think he understood what I was trying to say."

"And who are we talking about that got in the way of our practice?" A light, yet scary, voice popped up from behind Niou, scaring the poor boy again. These Rikkaidai Monsters really get on his nerves. Everyone jumped back to their regularly scheduled training program, except— of course— their innocent baby.

"Oh!" Akaya happily exclaimed, ready to help their captain in anyway he could. "The new transfer— Echizen Akina!"

Yukimura sighed. "Akaya-kun."

"Senpai?"

"Get back to practicing." Yukimura took a deep breath. Practice had just started, and he was already annoyed with another girl messing up his practice. Although, it seems as though this new transfer had something that could be possibly useful. He'll have to look into it more.

_When you hear the Bells of Ireland, good luck will come your way._

**Read and review!**


	6. Wishing for More Amaranths

**Peggy, it's been half a year. What the hell?**

**Whaaattt? I don't know what you're talking about. **

"Um…" The fake blonde girl looked over her shoulder to her teammates, giving them desperate looks of much needed help. She hated when Marui brought over random ass girls who had _totally promised _that they were wanting to be the girl's team manager and were not joining to actually just ogle the boys. Just because she was friends from grade school with Marui does not mean that he can just do this to her. She'll have to talk to him later. That little shit just left this probable bimbo with her as he skipped over to his own practice. "Look, Eche—"

"Echizen."

"Look—" The blonde girl continued.

"We're not exactly looking for a manager right now." A taller girl sauntered over to the two. She watched the Echizen girl's face fall. This was something she had seen many times: a disappointed girl who just wanted a hot guy to be her date. "I can still talk to our captain, but I can't promise anything. You're in class B3, right? We'll send Mimi-chan to you Friday morning."

"Alright," Akina took a deep breath. She turned to leave the room, when a voice pipped up from behind a weight rack.

"You might be able to play for us though." A cute brunette smiled at her— a warm light in the cold room.

"Sorry," Akina smiled back, her hand on the doorknob. "But I can't play."

Everyone stared at her retreating back as the girl exited their domain. No one said a word as the countless girl to be rejected left the room. The girls got back to work training their bodies in an attempt to prepare themselves for a battle against Seigaku that they were sure to struggle through. As the door closed, not one of the them hear the Echizen girl curse as she looked down at her phone.

**Dweeb: u ned to com hme now!**

**Nanako 3: Karupins missing we need you home**

**Dad: Help your mother and dumbass brother find the damn cat.**

**Mom: Come home! Karupin's missing! -Mom**

Oh god.

* * *

Heavy pants were the only thing coming from out of the female Echizen's mouth. Desperation pushed her to the max. The girl pushed herself even harder as she registered the area around her as her neighborhood. Maybe she'd see Karupin on her way home. God, first already getting unofficially rejected from being a manager on the girl's team and then her family loses the damn cat. Can her week get any worse?

Akina's feet slammed down hard on the hot pavement, landing with a loud slap. Her backpack thumped against her sweaty Rikkaidai uniform. She knows that she'd have to use her other uniform for the rest of the week. Her body sweat had totally soaked through to her suit. The Echizen girl waved and hollered at a group of traveling high school boys to get themselves out of her way. Who cares what they would have thought about her— all sweaty and smelly and rude? She wouldn't see them ever again. Pushing past the boys, Akina continued to pant heavily and racing towards her home.

"Akina-chan?"

**"Oh god,"** Akina whispered under her breath as she stopped. She recognized that voice. Turning around, Akina prepared herself for the worse as she faced four out of the nine Seigaku tennis regulars. One of whom was Ryoma's captain. And a beaming redhead. "Hey guys!"

"Whatcha doing, Echizen-chan?" Momoshiro raised his eyebrow at her.

Akina leaned over a slight amount. She really should have taken a break near the park instead trying to run a marathon. She was out of shape. "My family lost my stupid cat."

"Oh," Momoshiro's expression lit up. "This cat?"

Akina's eyes slowly widened as he pulled back his uniform jacket to reveal a sleepy looking Himalayan cat. As the cat made a yawnish meow, his owner nearly jumped into the group of teenage boys. Akina's arms spread themselves out wide, almost wide enough to give the entire group a hug. **"Karupin! My baby!" **

Everyone laughed as the cat perked up at his owner's voice, clearly wanting his owner to come to him. Momoshiro scooped the cat from his jacket and handed off the sneaky cat to the female Echizen. The cat squirmed in her arms as she snuggled the poor cat into the side of her face. The Echizen cat meowed as Akina bundled him up in her sweaty suit. "Thank you, guys. I was getting texts from my entire family about how Karupin was missing."

"It's no big trouble, Echizen-san," Ryoma's captain said. "We're always here to help."

"Besides," Oishi rubbed the back of his head, "the cat was sitting around in our storage room. He was easy to find."

"Well that's good," Akina patted Karupin's head. "Is there any way I can repay you guys?" A course of "no"s rang out from the group, other than Eiji who proudly proclaimed to come to Seigaku who was promptly admonished from Oishi. "Are you sure? There's got to be something I can do?"

"Join Seigaku—!"

"Eiji!"

"No, really," Momoshiro waved his hands in front of him. "It's fine, Echizen-chan. Having Echizen-kun on our team is good enough."

"Well, why don't you guys come over to my house so Ryoma can thank you guys?"

With the approval from the teammates, Akina led the boys to the Echizen household, unaware that Momoshiro already knew the way. As she pushed open her house door, Akina let out a joyous shout. "I'm home! With Karupin!"

Akina smiled as she heard the scrambling thumps of Ryoma's feet as he bolted towards her. As much as he pretends to not care about a lot of things, he can't hide his love for Karupin. Ryoma rounded a corner and almost slammed face first into his older sister. Akina gasped and dropped the beloved cat. Karupin— with no hint of annoyance— waddled his way over to the pillow that Akina had thrown at her mother. It seems it had not found its way back to the couch.

"Oh my god," Akina exclaimed. "Don't scare me like that!"

"I'm sorry!" Ryoma grasped his sister's arms, bringing her in for a tight hug. "Thank you for finding Karupin."

"I didn't!" Akina rejected her praises, but still hugged her baby brother back. "Your friends did."

"Ah." Her brother seemed to have finally taken notice of the Seigaku boys. "Thank you, you guys."

Akina left her brother to his friends; they'd surely like her brother over her. And besides, she needs to help her mother and Nanako with dinner. As she crudely sliced up carrots into thin strands, her two female relatives chatted about Nanako's day at the university.

"Yeah," Nanako chittered. "He's surprisingly good looking. I wasn't expecting that out of a physics professor."

"That just goes to show you not to judge people by what they like or do for a living," Akina's mother sprouted her wisdom at her niece.

"Did you learn that with dad too?"

"No," her mother deadpanned. "He looked like an idiot and he was. And still is."

"I heard that!" Nanjiro shouted from behind a door. The Echizen females giggled as Nanjiro grumbled at their joke.

"So what's going on at Rikkaidai?" Nanako poked Akina with a chopstick.

"Hey!" Akina swatted away the chopstick. "Well, I was placed in the wrong second bell."

"Oh?" Her mother furrowed her brow.

"Yeah," Akina continued. "Some idiot put the American transfer student in an English class. So now the only other option that I can take is European History."

Nanako shrugged. "At least there was something else for you."

"Yeah, I guess. It's just annoying. Now I have to reintroduce myself to a whole new class next week."

"Oh!" Rinko snapped her fingers. "Did the girls' take you as their manager?"

The girl in question frowned. It pretty much seemed as if she was going to get a long, drawn out 'no'. But before Akina had to admit her failure, her brother came bouncing through the house, calling out his sister's name for their daily ritual.

"Akina, let's go! I got our rackets!"

Akina quickly put down her knife—carefully— and sprinted after her brother; never before had she been so relieved for her brother's interference.

"Coming!"

* * *

"Hey Echizen-chan," her red headed classmate called her. "You should watch our matches today."

"Oh, that's right," Niou remembered. "It's Friday."

"Fridays are match days, right?" Yoko asked between sips of her ice coffee.

Marui nodded furiously; a smile ready to beam on his face. "Yeah, you two should totally come watch us."

The brunette shook her head. "No thanks; it's too loud down there."

"Yoko-chan," Mauri pouted. "You never come to see us play."

"Yeah, it's like you don't like us, Yoko-chan," Niou teased the poor brunette.

"We can just play tennis this weekend." Yoko rolled her eyes. "Echizen-chan and I are still going out tomorrow."

Marui groaned and leaned back in his chair. "We have matches tomorrow, remember?"

"Only in the morning. Besides," Akina pipped up, "I have something to do in the morning tomorrow anyways."

"Oh Echizen-san," Niou turned his head towards the black-haired girl. "What did the girls' team say about you being their manager?"

The Echizen girl pouted. "They said no."

"Yeah, I'm not that surprised honestly," Niou shrugged. "Don't take it too hard on yourself. They've refused pretty much everyone." Akina's frown deepened at Niou's words. "Although, if you're really desperate to be a tennis manager, maybe Yukimura'll—"

"Oh shit!" Marui jolted in his seat, a panicked look on his face. "I forgot to do my homework. Sensei's going to kill me!"

All thoughts of rejection were forgotten as the girls and Niou laughed at Marui's expense.

* * *

"Does it seem crazier to you today?" Jackal Kuwahara muttered to no one in particular as he scanned the fences separating them from the rest of the high school population. It seemed extra packed to him.

"Nah, it think it's just you— oh!" Marui sneaked a quick peek at the fence line. A familiar face caught his attention. His hand shot up, waving at one girl in particular. "It's Echizen-chan!"

"The transfer?" Yagyu sighed out as a wave of fans screamed at Marui's wave.

A stern shout from the vice-captain had Marui quickly scrambling back to his regular stretches. Sanada sighed and turned back to his conversation with Yanagi and Yukimura. One quick glare towards the fences and the screaming quickly quieted down to a more tolerable noise.

"Keep looking like that and maybe you'll even scare off some of our extra members," Yukimura teased his vice-captain.

"Speaking of extra members," Yanagi took control of the conversation. "We desperately need a manager. Ever since Katsumi-san graduated, we've been struggling with controlling our members. And quite frankly, we have too much."

Yukimura sighed. "I know. I didn't realize how much Katsumi-san did for our team."

"Do you have anyone in mind, Yanagi-san?"

"I heard that the new transfer student tried going to the girl's team to be a manager." Yanagi saw the strained expression in Yukimura's eyes. His face might not betray his emotions, but his eyes sure do. "I know how you feel about that."

"Do more digging on her first, Yanagi. Then we'll see if we want to interview her," Yukimura sighed. "I don't want this to turn into another Mina incident."

Yanagi nodded. "Of course, Seiichi-san."

Across the tennis courts, a black-haired girl's eyes wandered over to a small group of tennis players standing around and chattering to each other. _They're probably gossiping about girls, _Akina laughed to herself. As two of the three moved away from a bluenette, Akina couldn't help but feel as if she was wrong. The bluenette turned his head towards the fence line, and Akina couldn't help but stare back into his cold, icy eyes. His stared seemed to pin her down, freezing her on the spot. She couldn't help but keep all of her focus on him, even when the rest of the fans were screaming in her ear and Yoko began tugging on her sleeve. Something was just… off about him.

But… what?

_Mistletoe isn't just for Christmas._

**I just realized that my story passes the Bechdel test. Anyways, read and review!**


	7. Too Many Petunias

_Beetz beetz._

_Beetz beetz._

Akina reached over the Echizen cat, pawing her nightstand for her vibrating phone. Pulling the electronic from its charging cord, she quickly tapped the flashing screen to stop the phone alarm's incessant buzzing. Slim fingers drowsily entered Akina's pin as her cat wiggled around from the great disturbance. Akina sighed.

Nine o'clock.

"Ryoma!" Akina weakly called out, turning her head towards her door. "Get up!"

Getting an even weaker groan in response, Akina took that as an okay and proceeded to remove herself from her comfy spot next to her cuddly cat. Karupin meowed in response but continued to nestle into her cocoon of pillows. She donned her favorited jean shorts and tight tank top considering the hot day that Yoko said it would be. Tying up her hair in a quick bun, Akina spent most of her time applying light makeup in an attempt to partially cover up the tiredness in her face. Happy with her end result, Akina glanced at the clock.

Nine thirty.

_Was Ryoma still not up?_

"Ryoma!" A string of grumbles answered her. Akina poked her head into her brother's mess room to find her brother still dozing off in his bed. "Ryoma, you have to get up now!"

"I am," he mumbled. His bed creaked as he shifted. "Just a few more minutes…."

"Fine," Akina rolled her eyes. "But I'm going to get breakfast without you."

"Whatever."

Akina rolled her eyes again. This time, however, instead of waiting for an annoyed response from the boy, Akina simply left the groaning teenager to himself and took off from the house in search for a nice breakfast. Purse in hand, the girl stopped at a crepe shop on her way to the park. Half eaten crepe in hand, Akina made her way to the Tokyo Competition Grounds, watching other schools practice in open tennis courts. As she meandered around the park, Akina munched on the rest of the crepe, enjoying the flavors of the breakfast and the beautiful greenery of the park. She swallowed the rest of the delicious breakfast as a piercing voice broke through to her.

"Akina-chan!" A voice whined behind her while another voice admonished the informal usage of her first name. Akina spun around, finding a panicked looking red head bumbling after her. As Eiji caught up to her, she noticed the Seigaku team watching from a distance. "Akina-chan, where's your brother?"

"Huh?"

"Ryoma-chan!" Eiji grabbed a hold of her shoulders and shook her. "Where is he?"

Akina's eyes widened at his words. "Is he not here?"

"No!" Eiji shook her again much to Oishi's dismay. "I thought he would be with you! We have to sign in soon!"

"I woke him up," Akina gave the poor red head a weak shrug. "I left him at home to get myself breakfast."

As Eiji shrank back into a quivering mess, Oishi gently pushed him aside to speak to the Echizen sister. "I called him, and he said that he was helping a pregnant lady…"

"Yeah…." Akina grimaced. "You don't really believe that, do you?"

Oishi's gentle smile faltered at her words. He truly did have a kind soul. "I— I— well— maybe—"

"I have an idea!" Eiji bounced back up, a beaming smile on his face and a mischievous glint in his eyes. His hand slapped down hard on her forearm, causing the girl to let out a small squeal. As he dragged her closer to the rest of the Seigaku team, his smile grew. "You can pose as Ryoma-chan until he shows up!"

"Uh…," Akina blanched. It was one thing to bend the rules, but this was straight up cheating. You couldn't switch players or even their positions when you signed in. And she was female! "I don't think this is a—"

"Great idea, Kikumaru-kun!" Coach Ryuzaki snapped her fingers. Eiji beamed at her. "Kaido-kun, give her your jacket. Fuji-kun, I hope you have a spare set of shorts?"

"Sensei?" The Seigaku captain turned to his coach, actually looking slightly concerned.

"Yes, Sensei." Fuji just smiled at her.

"Good," Ryuzaki slapped her fist into her open palm. "Get her changed and we'll check in!"

"Why me?!" Akina pointed at a nearby freshman who squeaked. "He's actually in the tennis club! And he's his height."

Fuji's smile widened as he handed her a clean pair of Seigaku shorts. "You _actually_ look like him. Just slouch."

After much pouting from Akina, she met the Seigaku team outside of the restrooms after changing into the Seigaku uniform. Since nobody brought an extra Seigaku shirt, Akina had to make do with the oversized Seigaku jacket from Kaido. Although it was probably for the better. A tighter shirt might have revealed a feminine figure to the check-in referee. Despite all that, the jacket was pretty hot and it smelt a lot like teenage boy. As she fanned herself with a baseball hat one of the freshman dug up from his tennis bag, Akina couldn't help but feel a bit envious at the regulars warming up on the courts in front of her. It had been a while since in an actual competition.

"Sensei?" A taller freshman asked next to Akina. He was met with a questioning hum from Ryuzaki. "What happens if Ryoma doesn't show up until after Echizen-chan has to go up?"

"Well, then…." The coach trailed off. Akina blanched. _Did she not think of that before-hand? _"She'll either play or forfeit."

"You'd really let me participate?" Akina's jaw dropped.

"Yeah," Ryuzaki shrugged. "I've known your father for a long time. I'm sure you'll play fine. Anyways, we'd have beat Kamata regardless if you win or lose."

"Oh wow," Akina's eyes widened at her words. "You really are confident in your guys, aren't you?"

"Why shouldn't she be?" A snarky voice came from behind them, arrogance dripping from his voice. "She's got me on her team."

Ryuzaki's eyes blazed with fire and Akina knew then that her little shit of a brother shouldn't have said that. The coach whipped around, her ponytail almost slapping her face, and glared at her younger brother dressed messily in the Seigaku tennis uniform. "Maybe I would be _more _confident in _you, _Echizen Ryoma, if you'd bother to show up in time!"

_Yikes! _Akina looked away, holding in her giggles at her brother's expense. _That'll show him!_

"Now get your ass on the court, we're about to start and I don't think you running around like a frantic chicken was enough of a warm-up!" Ryuzaki admonished, drawing the attention of everybody near the courts.

Despite Ryoma's starting sloppy plays— at least from his normal plays, the Seigaku team bageled* every opponent that Kamata lazily tossed their way. After the massacre of Kamata, Akiyama 3rd was then quickly slaughtered within three matches even if Seigaku did seem to struggle a bit with some of their plays.

"It's such a shame Echizen-kun showed up before you had the chance to play, Echizen-chan," Fuji gave her a sly smile as she handed him back his shorts. She merely laughed as she sat down next to him in the soft grass. Seigaku had quite some time before their next match, so Ryuzaki decided to have lunch a bit earlier. "I bet you would have been spectacular."

"I would have been more inclined to play had you been my doubles partner, Fuji-kun," Akina teased, lightly swatting at Fuji's arm. As Akina opened her prepackaged sandwich that Ryuzaki's granddaughter had brought with her, she caught a glimpse of her brother's glare staring hard at her. She merely grinned back at him. As Fuji laughed at her words, the sounds of nearby cheering drowned him out.

A nearby freshman looked up from his food. "What school is doing that?"

"Hyotei," Momoshiro rolled his eyes at the cheering. "They do this at every match. It's so annoying."

"Ah," Fuji had his signature smile on his face like usual. "But I do want to play in the middle of a cheering crowd once again."

Akina burst into laughter at his words, again swatting his nearby arm and giggling like a maniac as she caught her brother's gaze. "I'll cheer for you if you ask nicely, Fuji-kun."

"Will you cheer for me, Echizen-chan?" Fuji's eyes opened, revealing the warm crystal blue eyes that Akina couldn't help but want to drown in. Akina was shocked. No wonder Fuji wanted to keep his eyes closed all the time; the beautiful blue orbs were mesmerizing. She opened her mouth, preparing to make some off hand, stupid comment about his eyes that he's probably heard dozens of times before.

"Your—"

"Alright, boys," Ryuzaki interrupted. And Akina couldn't help but feel grateful for her interruption. "Get up, it's time to kick some St. Rudolph butt!" Shook her fist in the air, pride radiating from her. Yet she paused when she caught sight of Fuji. "Ah, no offense Fuji-kun."

"None taken, Sensei," Fuji laughed, waving the older lady off as she moved on to talk to Tezuka and Oishi.

"What?"

He turned to her, a smile still on his face. "My little brother plays for St. Rudolph."

"You have a brother?"

"And an older sister," Fuji nodded.

Akina blinked, cogs turning in her head. "Why doesn't your brother go to Seigaku?"

"Well," Fuji paused and for the first time, Akina had seen this statue's smile falter. He tore his gaze from Akina, deciding to focus on faraway flowers. "It's a long story."

Akina, recognizing that detached pain etched into the older brother's face, nodded. Too many times has she worn that same expression upon her own. Too many times has she cried herself to sleep as she remembered his flaming eyes boring deep into her heart; his anger wasn't even meant for her. Too many times has she woken up to find her eyes puffy and sore, grey and washed out as if the life was drained out of her from her own tears.

It's been better. She'll get over it. They'll get over it. Together. At least, she hopes he will.

She let out a deep sigh, pretending to stare at whatever had caught Fuji's eye. "I get it. Ryoma and—"

_Ring ring. Ring ring._

Akina's hand slapped down hard on her buzzing pockets. Whipping out the small device, her eyes quickly glanced over the phone screen, her eyes widening at the caller ID.

**Yoko :P **

"Oh yeah," Akina managed to mutter out as a message from the caller popped up on the screen, reminding her to meet up at Rikkaidai's entrance.

"You doing something else today?"

Akina put her phone back in her purse before standing up from her spot on the cool grass. "I'm meeting up with a friend this afternoon. I guess time just got away from me."

"Ah, have fun then," Fuji's traditional smile was on his face again, his beautiful eyes now hidden behind his lids. As Akina made to turn away from the tensai, a thought quickly jumped into mind. "Ah! Echizen-chan?"

"Yes, Fuji-kun?"

"What's your number?" Fuji asked, an innocent smile still on his face.

"If I give you mine, you'll give me yours, right?" With Fuji's confirmation, the pair swapped numbers. Now, Akina was ready to leave, her goodbye wave given to Ryoma of which he ignored and somehow Eiji popped up next to her brother to give her sad waves back to her. Before finally turning away from the blue eyed tensai, Akina opened her mouth. "You can call me Akina, you know? Calling me Echizen is so annoying."

"As long as you call me Shusuke," Fuji laughed at her words.

"Alright then, Shusuke."

_Bring blue violets to someone when you return to them._

***I don't know how many people actually use this term in the tennis world, but I remember using this term in high school when someone got 0-6 in a set. They got 'bageled'. So, I don't know how many people actually play tennis and read this fic, but if you do, please tell me if this is a term you use. Cause I don't know if this is just local thing or if it's actually official.**


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